Chapter 4: Waiting
Beast Boy's elbow was perched on the edge of the table as he leaned his head on his hand and swirled the ice in his glass with his straw. He turned to Robin who rocked back in his chair with his arms folded across his chest.
"Time?"
"Ten minutes fifty three seconds," Robin replied.
Beast Boy sighed as he listened to the piano music continue to filter through the room. The music was nice but it was quickly wearing on him. He rubbed his face with his hand then leaned back in his chair. He glanced over and noticed their server was coming back to check on them.
"Is there anything I can get for you?" she politely asked them.
"An American Express card," Beast Boy muttered under his breath.
"Excuse me sir?" she replied not quite hearing what he had said to her.
"Do you have any of those alcohol-free frozen daiquiris?" Robin quickly chimed in. He could see Beast Boy cringe.
"Sure," she replied. "How many?"
"Four,' Robin answered. "And can we have the little umbrellas in them?"
"Sure," she said with a smile. "I'll be right back."
"Thanks," Robin smiled as he watched her turn and head back towards the bar. He looked over to his friend who sat dejectedly in his chair.
"What's the matter?"
"Oh nothing," Beast Boy said in an agitated voice. "At least you could have waited until my fifteen minutes was up."
"Does that mean you still think they'd get back here in the next," Robin paused and looked down at his watch, "two minutes and ten seconds?"
"No, I guess not," Beast Boy replied glumly. Robin was always so precise and it annoyed the hell out of him.
From the entryway Robin and Beast Boy could hear the throaty chugging of a revved up motorcycle. Both boys looked at each other not sure if they where hearing correctly.
"That sound's like a motorcycle," Beast Boy said.
"A Harley if I'm not mistaken," Robin added.
They could hear screams emanating from the front portion of the room as the cycle's engine was gunned. The piano music suddenly stopped and Beast Boy and Robin stood up trying to get a glimpse of what was happening. Judy arrived at the table with their drinks as she looked back to see what the commotion was all about.
Robin caught site of an over-sized motorcycle weaving around the tables and scattering the patrons. He squinted trying to make out the rider. All at once he recognized him.
"Johnny Rancid!"
"What the hell is he doing here?" Beast Boy looked at Robin who stood with clenched fists.
Rancid's motorcycle weaved its way back to the Titan's table. Judy quickly backed away as she fought to keep the drinks balanced on her tray. The motorcycle and its rider slowed to a crawl as Johnny casually looked over at his two astonished foes.
"Hey guys, got hot dates tonight?" he said casually. "Well let me go and go get dinner for you." He laughed then peeled out and slammed his motorcycle through the kitchen doors. A loud crash ensued as the doors swung closed. There were screams and more crashes as the motorcycle's engine continued to roar.
Robin looked at Beast Boy. "Well aren't you going to get in there and stop him?"
Beast Boy turned and shot Robin an exasperated look. "I can't morph in this tuxedo; I'll shred it like that green hulking guy. What about you?"
Robin looked down at his cloths then back at Beast Boy. "Does it look like I packed my utility belt?"
Both of the boys looked at each other as they quickly realized their predicament. In unison they cried, "OH SH—"
The kitchen doors burst open before they finished. Johnny was pushing a small cart in front of him as he quickly put a food-stained chef's hat on his head. His white muscle shirt and jeans were stained with food that he had kicked up during his rampage.
"Chef Rancid here," he announce with a wicked smile. "I've taken care of your dinner; may I interest you in dessert?" With that he pulled a large pie from the cart and threw his first offering at an astonished Robin. The pie hit him square in the face and sprayed all over the top of his tuxedo. Robin raised his hands and pulled the pie plate from his face and blew out his mouth attempting to clear the pie from his face so he could breath.
Beast Boy couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Robin plastered with pie. He turned back to Rancid just in time to see a flash of white as a pie smashed into his face. The sweet taste of whipped cream filled his mouth and his nose stung from the impact. Beast Boy leaned over and the pie plate fell to the floor. He raised his hands to his face and tried to wipe the pie remnants from his eyes.
Johnny burst out laughing as he admired his work. Both Robin and Beast Boy struggled to wipe their faces clean. He quickly spied their server as she was trying to slip away unnoticed.
"Hey what's this?" Rancid quickly came towards her cutting off her escape. "Wait a minute young lady. There's no need to run, I'm a lover not a fighter." He grasped on to her free hand as her face became consumed in fear. Her tray crashed to the floor as she desperately tried to pull away from her captor.
"Leave her alone," Beast Boy commanded as he strode purposefully towards his adversary. Rancid smiled as Beast Boy approached him, his face and clothes splattered with the remnants of pie. Johnny let go of the young lady who took the opportunity to quickly put some distance between her and the crazed intruder.
"It's really hard to take someone seriously when their face is plastered with pie," Johnny said.
Beast Boy stood toe to toe with the much taller Rancid who seemed unimpressed with his display. He suddenly felt very vulnerable being unable to transform himself into something more formidable then a five-foot seven one hundred and fifty pound green munchkin with pie on his face.
"Thanks for coming over," Rancid said through clenched teeth. "Now I won't have to run you down to pound the crap out of you." He smacked his fist into his open palm to emphasize his point.
Beast Boy suddenly raised his left hand in the air. "Hey Johnny look at this!"
Johnny looked curiously at Beast Boy's raised hand. "What?"
"Just this," Beast Boy quickly slammed his right fist into Rancid's gut. Beast Boy cringed in pain; his fist felt like it hit a brick wall.
Johnny looked down and smiled at his foe's feeble attempt. "Ha, that's a good one. Let's try this; your shoe's untied."
"Really?" Beast Boy looked down at his shoes in response to Rancid's comment. Johnny quickly slammed his fist into Beast Boy's gut sending him staggering backwards and sprawling onto the floor.
Beast Boy took short breaths trying to fill his suddenly cleared lungs. He wrapped his arms around his aching stomach. "Oh my spleen," he groaned.
Rancid smiled triumphantly. Something whirled dangerously close to his head knocking off his chef's hat. "What the hell?" He turned to see Robin had armed himself with several bread plates.
"Heads up Rancid," Robin quickly cocked his hand back and frisbeed another plate at his astonished foe. Rancid ducked as the plate whizzed by his head again.
"You're gonna run out of plates soon boy blunder and then I'm gonna put the hurt on you."
Johnny focused his attention on Robin trying to anticipate his next throw. Robin smiled then cocked his hand back attempting to hold his opponent in place.
Johnny felt a sharp pain in his right knee as he heard a loud crash of plates. Beast Boy had taken the cart and slammed it into his leg while he was watching Robin. With Rancid's attention diverted Robin launched the last of his plates at his reeling opponent. One struck him in the side of his head the other hit him in the hip.
Rancid cried out in pain; now his head and hip hurt along with his right knee. This was suddenly much less fun than it was a few minutes ago. He grabbed the cart and began pushing Beast Boy back towards the wall. "I'm gonna crush you you little green freak!"
Beast Boy dug his heals in trying to slow his backward progress towards the wall. He slowed it down slightly but he was no match for the much bigger Rancid.
Robin launched himself at Rancid planting his foot squarely into his opponents left shoulder breaking his hold on the cart and causing him to fall to his knees. Robin cried out in triumph. His cry was suddenly tempered as he heard the sick tear of his pant's crotch seam.
Rancid crouch dazed on all fours. The tide had definitely turned against him. He heard the rattle of the cart closing in on him. It struck his head hard and sent him down to the floor. He raised his head slightly then felt a hard crack of a frying pan smack the top of his head. Judy stood over Rancid's unconscious body.
"Good work Judy," Beast Boy said slightly amused. "I think you can be an honorary Titan for the night."
"Thanks," she smiled. "Who is this creep anyway?"
"Johnny Rancid," Robin replied. "We've met before."
"Hey guys, what happened?" Terra's voice startled the others.
Robin and Beast Boy turned to see their disheveled dates. The girls began to giggle at the boys pie-covered faces.
"We had a little visit from Rancid," Beast Boy calmly explained. "What happened to you?"
Terra walked over to the table and grabbed a napkin then walked over to Beast Boy and began wiping off his face. "We had a little visit too. What was her name?"
"Kitten," Starfire coldly announced. She quickly followed suit and grabbed a napkin and began wiping Robin's face.
"Kitten," Robin replied slightly concerned. "Where is she?"
"In the bathroom trash can where she belongs," Terra replied.
"Yes, we gave her a swirly so that she would remember who we are and never bother us again," Starfire added in disgust.
"A swirly?" Beast Boy asked half laughing.
"Yea," Terra replied. "Now hold still so I can get the rest of this off your face. Hey Judy can you get us some water and club soda to clean these guys up?"
"Sure, I'll be right back."
"Hey Robin do you feel a draft?" Beast Boy called out to his friend with a chuckle.
"Shut up!" Robin replied.
"What is the matter?" Starfire inquired as she finished cleaning up Robin's face.
"He split his pants," Beast Boy said as he broke out into uncontrolled laughter.
Starfire looked down and noticed a pair of white boxers protruding from Robin's pants. "I like your happy faces," she replied as she noticed small yellow happy faces stamped on them.
Robin blushed violently as the others inspected his exposed boxers. "They're my lucky boxers, OK!"
Judy quickly returned with a pitcher of water, several club sodas and a bottle. "Here let me help." She put the tray on the table and opened one of the club sodas, put some on a napkin and began rubbing the pie remnants from Beast Boy and Robin's tuxedos.
"Thanks girls," Beast Boy said as he inspected the scene. "Is everything alright?"
"I think so," Judy replied. "The police should be here soon. They can take care of these two."
"Good," Beast Boy responded. "I guess dinners over. We'd better get going or we'll be here talking to the police all night."
Starfire and Terra finished cleaning up the boys. Robin stood transfixed by Starfire's wet gleaming body. "Yea, where to now," he said in a daze.
"Sal's," Beast Boy quickly blurted out.
"Yes, let's go to Sal's and eat large quantities of Pizza!" Starfire enthusiastically replied.
"OK with me," Terra chimed in.
"Wait," Judy interrupted. "Here," she placed a wine bottle in Beast Boy's hand. "A little something from me; it's a White Zinfandel."
"Um thanks," Beast Boy quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out one of Cyborg's $100 bills. "Here, for you. You helped with this too. Besides it looks like your tips are going to be down tonight."
"Thanks." Judy took the bill and smiled as she watched the young couples make their way out of the dinning room.